Patrons of Husbandry – a website dedicated to the Granges located in Maine
Did you know the longest word in the dictionary has over 1900 letters in it!?
“Words for Thirds” is a signature program for the Grange. It provides third graders with their own student dictionary. To learn more, watch this short video!
We recently received thank-you notes from our third-graders in Brownville. Most include hand-drawn pictures–unfortunately, with the colored construction paper, they don’t scan well, but here are a few summarized.
“Thank you for everything. I had a lot of fun. You make me laf!”
“Thank you for the Dictionary. My favorite part was the word game.”
“Thank you for everything. You are so nuns. We love you!” [I think “nuns” was supposed to be “fun.”]
“Mr. Boomsma Thank you. I love love when we try to find the word even though I didn’t win I still tried.”
“My favorite part was the sticks.” [We talk about the staves or staffs–farmers’ tools.]
“Thank you for everything you [?] for keeping our cugrey [community?] safe.“
“Thank you for the dictionary. Now I know lots about the periodic table of the elements. You are the best.” [No, I did not make this one up. It’s in the dictionary!]
“Dear Mr. Boomsma, You are a kind man. Thank you for letting us play the dictionary game of finding the words in the dictionary. Good job. You’re working hard.”
“Thank you for the dictionary and showing us the farmers’ tools.”
“Ok the longest word is hard. I can’t read the word.” [According to the dictionary, the longest word has 1909 letters in it!]
“Thank you for showing us the dictionary and farmer tools. The dictionary was amazing! The tools were great! I hope you come back to our school!”
I think one class had a little help with this one:
If you come to our Musical Celebration of Rural Life on Friday, November 17, 2023, you’ll get a chance to read some of these for yourself!
Mill Stream Grange members Jill Sampson and Lisa Goucher presented dictionaries to the third graders at the Mt. Vernon Elementary School in January, and the Cape Cod Hill Elementary School in February. This was the first year since 2019 that an in-house presentation was allowed at the schools. It was a fun time at both schools, with very excited students and teachers. The students especially liked learning how to spell their names using the sign language pictures in the dictionary.
Valley Grange has now distributed over 3,600 dictionaries to third-graders in the area. This year they visited five schools in four districts. In addition to a dictionary for every third-grader, Valley Grange’s Blistered Finger Knitters provided hats, mittens, and socks for each of the schools. Enjoy this brief video summarizing this year’s program.
Watch the WABI Coverage of our visit to SeDoMoCha.
Read the Observer Article regarding PCES’s visit to Valley Grange.
Take a dictionary to lunch day?
“…students were very excited to receive their own personal dictionary, and even took them to the lunchroom that day.”
Mrs. Watkins, Mt. Vernon Third Grade Teacher
Mill Stream Grange members Debbie Lavender (l) and Jill Sampson delivered dictionaries to the third grade of Mt. Vernon Elementary School. Due to Covid concerns, they were unable to present them in person.
